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Cuomo: School districts must protect transgender students

Cuomo: School districts must protect transgender students

Carrie Doyle | March 4, 2017, 0:29

Cuomo: School districts must protect transgender students

Days after the Trump administration rescinded federal protections for transgender students, New York City officials are doing the opposite. A glossary of gender identity terms is also included in the 10-page guidance.

In a 10-page memo issued this week, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said the guidelines are meant to help schools promote "the educational and social integration of transgender and gender nonconforming students and ensure a safe learning environment free from discrimination and harassment".

A Florida school district will let a transgender student play on the boy's soccer team, but might then refuse to let the student use the men's bathrooms.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria), who is a member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, said the decision flew in the face of almost 15 years of court and agency opinions that affirmed transgender students were protected by federal legislation against sex discrimination in schools.

Eleven U.S. states have agreed to drop a lawsuit against an Obama administration order for transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice after the measure was revoked by President Donald Trump, a court filing showed on Thursday. The Arizona Department of Education, Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage and two school districts also were parties to the suit. A 2016 law extended that protection to public accommodations, including restrooms. "Unfortunately, rescinding this guidance only serves to confuse school administrators and take away a vital tool for students and their families who want to be treated with dignity and respect".

The letter calls for districts who do not now have a formal policy protecting transgender students to "adopt one expeditiously". "Protecting transgender students helps ensure that they have the same opportunities as their classmates to fully participate in school".

The Log Cabin Republicans shared letters sent on Friday by members who are either transgender or raising transgender children, to the Trump administration's departments of education and justice. "Tragically, the Trump Administration has made a decision to abdicate its duty to protect the rights of transgender students in our schools".